NEW DELHI, India: As Gandhi celebrated Venkat. araman’s election, the challenge to his leadership continued with the Party’s most prominent dissident former defense Minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh, offering to resign his Parliamentary seat and Party membership.
In a strongly worded letter to Gandhi, Singh, sacked from the Cabinet last April, protested against the expulsion yesterday of three other Congress (1) dissidents, the Press Trust of India (PTI) said.
“If the Party gains by. throwing me out, lam prepared to make the Supreme political sacrifice and offer to resign. In that case, please treat this letter as my letter of resignation,” Singh wrote.
Gandhi yesterday expelled political operative Arun Nehru his distant cousin, and two former Cabinet Members Vidhya Charan Shukla and Arif Mohammad ~ Khan, from the congress (I) for unspecified antiparty activities:
The three men had challenged Gandhi’s leadership and threatened to split the ruling party, party officials said.
In his letter, Singh called the expulsions “undemocratic and dictatorial” and said, “it is now clear that any Congressman can be politically crucified without a’ show cause notice and proper hearing’.
There was no indication whether Gandhi would accept the resignation of Simgh who has wide popular support because of his campaigns against corruption while serving as Finance and defense Minister.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 24, 1987
